Education for Civitas: The Lessons Americans Must Learn. Working Paper Series in Education.

This essay explores the various definitions of "civitas" and how those definitions have valuable lessons for people. "Civitas" means both a political community or government, especially as found in a republic, and the kind of citizenship a republic requires. Specifically the paper examines the role of government in education and the role of education in preparing youth for citizenship in a constitutional democratic republic. The essay provides historical examples of the changing roles of citizenship from Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Robert M. LaFollette, Jr. to Hillary Rodham Clinton. The paper also examines parental rights, vouchers, charter schools, privatization of public schools, and the move toward national standards and tests. The essay is divided into two parts: (1) "Education for Civitas: The Lessons Americans Must Learn"; and (2) "Afterword: The Politics of Educational Reform." (EH)